LoveHate: Scar Tissue
by Zadien
Summary: Ruin Mulryan was once best friends with Amber Benson and Tala Valkov, but when he attempted to play her under Kai’s influence, she left and didn’t talk to them for three years. Now she’s back and Tala isn’t letting her go this time.


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Love/Hate: Scar Tissue

By: Zadien

Disclaimer: _I don't own Beyblade or anything relating to Beyblade, like Bakuten etc. I do however own Ruin Mulryan and Amber Marie Benson and the cast of Love/Hate. The whole concept and the plot of Love/Hate belongs to me, and the people of Bakuten, the life and everything about Love/Hate: Bakuten is mine. _

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A.N. Well this is the Ruin/Tala story and I hope that everyone will like this. If I don't get the reviews that satisfy me then I'll remove it. But this for all those who wanted it. I don't know if I'll stick completely with the _How thin is the line_ but it is from the Love/Hate series so all the cast will be the same and everyone's situation will be the same. 

Oh and if you like the Love/Hate series, check out the other one: 'Love/Hate: A tangled Web' by 'Kindred Insanity'. Summary: _Kirby has been battling an attraction to Mikel Davidoff that he won't give up playing on. She doesn't want to be attracted to him, she doesn't even want to admit he exists, but things get complicated when jealousy rears its ugly head._

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Summary: Ruin Mulryan was once best friends with Amber Benson and Tala Valkov, but when he attempted to play her under Kai's influence, she left and didn't talk to them for three years. Now she's back and Tala isn't letting her go this time.

Chapter one: Memories Consume

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Hey Rath,

How have you been? How's Johnny? Enrique? Is he still flirting with anything in the skirt? And Beth? I miss her and her little quirks. Are Mari and Ray still together? How is Robert, tell me you haven't tried to kill him or drive him insane! And Lee, is he still as logical as ever? Man I miss them. And what about you; are you and Kai together yet? I've so many things I want to ask you. Three years. Fuck. I'm sorry runt that I never stayed in contact. It was just difficult and I don't expect that to ever satisfy you because you were always needing answers to everything. Never could go with the flow could you? I guess I should try to explain things.

Christ where to start? Well… my Grams, she died. A week and three days ago actually. Things here have been pretty tense. Mother's being mother, she never did like funerals, or wakes or even being around sick people. I can't believe mother even came here, especially when she knew that Grams had cancer; it was so out of character for her. 

I sighed heavily and re-read what I'd written. Christ I sounded like a fucking bleeding heart. I should have a sign on my head saying '_pity me!'_ But what else could I say? I did miss everyone that was true enough and I wanted to know how everyone was and I was taking the cowards way out by not getting off my ass and going to find her and tell her face to face. I'd been in Bakuten for three fucking days and I hadn't gone to see her. I was being a coward and if there is something I hate, it's cowardly fucking bastards. Especially if they are cowardly bastards who are Russian and have red hair… 

Christ who am I kidding?! I didn't hate him, not really. I despised what he'd done to me, and what I'd done to myself because of him and most of all, I hated the person I'd become during those months after wards. I pushed away from my computer which sat in the corner of my new room, or old room. My parents had rented out the house when they moved out of state; obviously they'd been intent on coming back. Mother probably didn't think they'd have to wait three years for my Grams to kick the bucket. She hadn't been able to clear out of Grams's quick enough when she died. We waited three days to hold the wake and funeral and then the rest of the week to show some level of respect and get everything in order to move back to Bakuten. And Dad, well he'd always been a spineless wimp when it came to mom. He could be a cold bastard in business but mother certainly had his pussy whipped. 

I on the other hand, I mourned my Grandmothers death. I'd felt it like a cut to my heart but I had masked it. So what if everyone had thought I was a cold hearted emotionless bitch? I'd be insulted if they didn't. But none of them knew me and none of them; not one of those people knew what my relationship with my Grams had been like. She had been my _only_ family, the only person in this god forsaken world who'd given two shits about me. She saw me, and she'd been the one to see what I was doing to myself. She saw through the shroud of mystery and the emotionless mask I wore in a desperate attempt to keep people away. She saw through the anger. She had seen through it all. She hadn't listen to the attitude I threw at her constantly or the curses and the many 'go aways!' instead she'd listened to what I'd really been saying all that time: _I'm hurt, sick and in pain; make me better please._ And she'd helped me. She made me go to a counsellor, and even though I tried to scare the woman away; Grams wouldn't let me. It was Grams persistence that had finally got me through. She saved me and for that I'm eternally grateful to her. 

I sighed looking out the window at kids walking home from school. School, I was going to have to go there soon. I'd probably register tomorrow, which meant I'd have to see Amber again. I wasn't ready yet, not really. It was so hard to believe that she was only a few blocks away. After all this time, I didn't know how she'd react. I never really told her I was leaving; I couldn't, not really. She wouldn't have handled it well and I… The thought of leaving her alone here in Bakuten hadn't been easy on me. She was essentially my family. It took me a while to realise that and while I was scared shitless of coming back here, deep down I had a feeling that I was coming home. Amber was home. 

There hadn't been anything left for me in Willow Bridge once my Grams had died. Sure she'd left me the house and the surrounding area to me in her will; as well as other things of value to her, but they weren't important to me. I hadn't fitted in to the community at Willow Bridge, sure I stood out in Bakuten but everyone was basically use to me. It's like cheers; everyone knows your name. You can't get a hair cut without someone commenting about it. 

I still found it weird that my Mother and Father had settled there. I mean come on! My Mother's a socialite and she needs rich people to feel secure and better than them! But she's also a hypochondriac. She basically goes to all these gatherings in the city and tells everyone that she's living here to recuperate from some illness. Of course Bakuten is the perfect place to hide her less than perfect daughter. A small town like Bakuten doesn't give much of shit about your family and your rank in society. They like to get to know you before they start forming ideas about you. It doesn't mean they don't gossip. Mrs. Jenkins across the road had once been the biggest gossip and I'm betting she still is. 

I should probably talk to Amber before her mother hears about the Mulryans' arriving back into town from someone down in the market. There were probably all sorts of stories floating around about why we were back. Some would even have me being on the run from the state police, actually I started that one, and added fuel to it. Small town gossip mongers are so easy to manipulate. They're also perfect for building up reputations. I use one where ever I can. At Hastings High, I was actually known as an arsonist who'd burnt down her old schools gym. Technically I stole that idea from _Buffy,_ but oh well. It was funny to watch everyone's reaction to me. The popular ones stumbled over their own feet to get away from me, while the bad asses always tried to engage me in conversation.

I'd only had one friend there. Keith Matthews. He was one of those guys that girls drool over, but I never saw him as eye candy. He was just there, cool and aloof and very much my closest friend. He never tried to be better than me and he never tried to talk to me when I was making it clear that I didn't want to be talked to. He was easy going and someone you could really just sit down in comfortable silence and not have to worry about who was going to fill the uneasy silence. Why did silence need to be filled any way? It had been weird to leave Keith and know that he wasn't going to be there to talk to whenever. But I had Johnny, Robert and Lee… if they would have me. I missed them. They were my friends. Amber had always been good at making friends easily; they flock to her. She endears herself to people and does it without trying. You can't feel indifferent to her; she gets under your skin, either in a good way like with Tala or in a bad way like with Kane Suzoru. I can still smile over the way the two of them bicker, fighting for Ozuma Benson's attention. 

And then there's Kai Hiwatari. Actually I wonder how the two of them have moved on. As far back as I can remember they've sniped and bickered with each other, and the sexual tension between them when they hit puberty was almost palpable. When I left they'd been friends, so I guess they're either together or they've broken up. He just better not've played her. Because if he did then he was going to be a _very_ sorry boy. And that wasn't a threat, it was a promise.

Feeling claustrophobic I wandered towards the wardrobe. Tugging out my favourite long black coat, guaranteed to have me labelled as a Goth before I even stepped out of my gate. Well if you're going to make an entrance, better make it good. I mean seriously how many Goths do you think there are in Bakuten? Though I don't really think of my self as a Goth, sure I'm a little morbid and I were dark makeup but I don't like being labelled as anything, except I'm me. I'm a class-A bitch and I don't like people unless they've grown up with me. The only person I can really say I honestly care about is Amber, while I like Robert, Lee and definitely Johnny. I tolerate everyone else. 

I shrugged on my jacket and jogged down the long and steep staircase into the hall which was paved with pine strips, I glanced over my shoulder where I could hear my mother giving orders to our new house staff while the sliding door of Dad's office was shut tight. 

"I'm going out!" I shouted over my shoulder, then grabbing a spare pair of keys I started out of the house. 

I shut the back door with a bang and winced. I forgot to turn off the computer, hmm, well my mother knew better than to go into my room when I wasn't there. I had my space and she had hers and we both respected that and kept out of each others way. I was a disappointment to my mother, but that was no big secret. She'd never really wanted children, but for societies sake she'd had one. I envy those with parents who care, and most of all I envied Amber. Her parents adored her, they always have. Though James her father; had a thing about looking after Kai which annoyed Amber when they were younger, he still made time for her. And Treasa adored her daughter who was the spitting image of her in terms of colouring. Amber's family was something I'd always envied while I was younger; I'd always felt like an outsider looking in the window, but they always tried to make me feel welcome. I could walk into the Benson household whenever I felt like it. It was the same for other friends of Amber's. We just walked in whenever we liked and helped ourselves to whatever we wanted and her mother never batted an eyelid. 

Before I could even think my feet were leading me down the familiar streets that I'd often walked at various hours of the day when I'd been younger. A town like Bakuten never changed. Sure people came and went, though those who'd been here for a long time tended not to leave; but over all the town stayed the same. I crossed the street into _Rape Alley_ so named because it's an obvious place to be attacked if you wander up there on your own. But here I was walking up here on my own. There were never people out here at this time of the day, it's a night place for nocturnal people which is a nice term for those who need to get smashed off their faces to escape this world. A place like Bakuten can and does drive people to drugs; it's just that most of the inhabitants ignore that druggies exist. Well there's bliss in ignorance, I suppose.

I made my way through the diamond hurriedly, ignoring the children who were pleading with their parents to go for ice cream at the Friars Rest. With a small smile and a softened heart, I gazed up at the place I'd often come to drown my sorrows or to escape my family. The Du Ponts have made this café the most successful eatery in the town, which wasn't all that hard because the food is amazing and the atmosphere is welcoming. But I hadn't come out to reminisce. I just wanted to walk. So I walked all the way past my second home and past the _Sands_ hotel to the small little path that led to the beach. Already youths were heading down to catch the surf. It was October and it was still kind of warm. I was never much of a surfer, I left that to the boys and while Amber tried it, she soon found she couldn't quite conquer her fear of deep water. Kai's fault, he pushed her into their pool when she'd been four. I on the other hand just don't like getting wet unless it's in the shower or the bath. 

I wandered along the beach, the absolute picture of solitude. The wind lifted strands of my black hair, streaked with red and blue off my neck and cast it away from my face. Hmm I suppose I looked pretty alone, in the billowing jacket and looking completely aloof while everyone else joked about with their friends and had fun. That's how it's always been. No matter how many people I'm with, I'm always on my own, apart from the others. I thought, possibly, that with him it would be different, that I wouldn't be alone anymore. It didn't work that way. Life never goes according to plan, which is why you should never have a plan. 

I plucked a pebble from the sand and tossed it along the water, watching it skip three times, before it sank. Bryan Malkovich taught me how to do it when I was younger. I'd been on the beach on watching Tala and Kai dunk Amber for about the fourth time that day and he'd come over to me and started skimming pebbles. After a while of watching, he offered to teach me. I don't know why he did it, maybe it was because he was annoyed with me watching him, and maybe it was because he'd understood I was lonely. I didn't want to go down to where the others where messing around. After a while Tala had come up, his gorgeous and young face alive with laughter, those turquoise eyes almost liquid like with droplets clinging to those thick dark lashes of his and that generous mouth was curved in a grin. He'd shook his bright red hair spraying both me and Bryan with drops of water. I got the worst of it, and had I minded? Not one bit. I'd been such a fool. But I was over that petty childish crush.

Dusting the grains of sand from my hands, I stood up straight and let my solid brown eyes scan the strand. I could see loads of spots that brought back fond memories. Tala Valkov. I grew up with him. When we were children, it had always been me, Tala and Amber. Amber had been the baby cute and innocent, completely naïve of the world and adored by everyone. Tala and I had decided to keep it that way. We kept all the bad people away from her, kept them from hurting her and in our way we moulded her. I didn't want her to be like me, Tala just wanted to keep her from everyone. I remember him getting in a fight with Kai when they were just about 6 or 7. Kai had done something with Amber, I can't remember exactly. All I know was that me and Tala came into the park and Kai had been holding Amber who'd been shaking. Tala had been so pissed off that someone would save Amber instead of him, and then Kai had got pissed and said he'd only been trying to help. Tala had swung for him and Kai had only a second to place Amber out of the way, and because he had, he'd received Tala's fist to the face. I'd tried to separate them and Amber had jumped on Kai's back when he'd started hitting Tala. In the end it was James Benson and Bryan Malkovich who'd separated them. But it had been the reason that Tala and Kai hadn't friends until they got to high school. 

I guess part of me had always hated the fact that Tala seemed to put Amber first, but it wasn't as if he ignored me. No, he didn't. He just treated me different, is all. Almost like an equal and we'd just joke around and baby Amber most of the time and it pissed her off, but we protected her and though she often hated it, she never told us to piss off. I would have. Had Tala treated me like he treated Amber, I would have told him to piss off, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have appreciated it. Being made to feel special would have been nice. Things changed when Tala suddenly realised that girls would do anything for him, because no doubt about it he was attractive. Sometimes he'd look at me and I'd feel as though my knees would buckle, which is complete and utter dribble. Why on earth would one look affect someone like that? Oh well, it had and I hadn't liked it. And I absolutely loathed how I'd blush when he was around. I was the queen of Ice and aloofness, I could make a guy back away ten spaces with a look, but no my best friend was the one who could melt the ice. 

Kai noticed it, and that was probably why he'd made the bet. A bet which said that Tala couldn't play me like all the other girls. I don't know what possessed him, I know Tala couldn't back away from a challenge, but I was his best friend. The one he'd come to and discuss things that he couldn't talk to the runt about. But that hadn't phased him, he asked me out. I actually had believed he'd cared about me more than a friend. I guess Amber wasn't the only one who was naïve. He'd send me those quick wolfish grins in class which would make my heart trip and he'd just casually sling his arm over my shoulder whenever we were going anywhere. And when I was on my own anywhere, he'd come over and just sit with me ignoring all other girls. It had been nice, and I'd let my guard down. When he asked me to go to the movies with him and without anyone else. I hadn't hesitated to say yes. 

But it was the next morning when I'd been in the boys washrooms with Johnny McGregor that I'd found out the real reason my red haired Russian friend, had been treating me different. I'd heard Kai asking him how the bet was coming. I'd figured the whole thing out pretty quickly, and to say I'd been crushed would be a fucking understatement. Johnny had wanted to storm out there and beat the shit out of both of them, and he probably would have but I'd restrained him. Instead I'd waited until the two Russians' had left, and then I'd left school and went home. I'd locked myself in my room and indulged myself for a while with a new razor and my left wrist. 

It had been that afternoon that I'd heard about Grams and I'd jumped at the chance to leave. I hadn't even told anyone I was leaving, except I'd told Johnny to keep a look out for Amber. There had been no way in hell that I was leaving her to Tala; I wasn't stupid. He had been changing and I wasn't going to let him hurt her the way he'd hurt me. I'd left Bakuten that evening and I hadn't kept in contact with anyone. 

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Now I was back and to be honest I was nervous about meeting Tala again, of seeing everyone again. But I was Ruin Mulryan, and I'd make Tala's life a living hell for what he'd done to me!

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Well what do you all think? Yeah I know it's short but it's just to give the background. The next chapter we will meet all the gang again. Hope fully this will tide everyone over until the next chapter of Love/Hate. Which hopefully will be out like next week, but I ain't promising anything. 


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